Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Smoke Screen ❯ Isolation ( Chapter 11 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: sadistic_kunais 
Non Anime: Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.30.2012 | Pages: 8 | Words: 19.5K | Visits: 176 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.30.2012 | Pages: 8 | Words: 19.5K | Visits: 176 | Status: Completed
Note to Disclaimers: I do not and nev er will own Kingdom Hearts 1, 2 or Chain of Memories
so…please do NOT sue me. This is way beyond sta ndard at this point, don't you think?&nbs p;
A/N: Chapter 11 is here after a&nbs p;way too long…or something like&nb sp;that! The rules have not
changed. The boy/boy love shall continue (sorry allâ ;€”it's STILL not the main pairing)&nbs p;as
will the Mature themes (I.E. that&n bsp;means Rape, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Gangs,
cussing, blood, horrible things that SHOULD NOT happen to people, etcâ& euro;¦) and that
means this story ;is not for young ones! I can't stress&n bsp;that enough and I sure don't want a& nbsp;
lawsuit. The content hasn't changed eith er. It may seem overly harsh and if ;it is, well, why
the hell are you& nbsp;still reading? I apologize for it taking so long. Life just happens.
Word coding: 'Thoughts' , "Speaking", Ra ndom flashbacks or other stuff, Everything&nbs p;else
:THERE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A&nbs p;LINE BREAK HERE:
ISOLATION
Sora& nbsp;ignored Marluxia's grunts and protests as&nbs p;the small brunette shoved both Marluxia and
Larxene into his closet and gave t hem a dirty look. Larxene simply rolled her eyes and stared at
her kunai in feigned wonder while Marluxia tried not ;to press up against her; he liked havin g
body parts. Meanwhile, Sora had perche d himself on the couch right as Leon&nbs p;walked in looking
tired and resolute. Sora waved, his demeanor nonchalant, before s tanding and stretching. Leon
watched him ;as Sora began to make his way towards&n bsp;his bedroom.
"Hey."
"Hey," Sora repl ied with boredom in his voice. "I'm goin g to bed."
"Did you already eat?" < br> Sora nodded. "Yeah, there's pizza in the& nbsp;oven. See ya tomorrow."
"Wait," Leon&nbs p;called out as he set his bags on the floor. The young brunette paused by the
hallway entrance, his eyebrows raised&nbs p;in wait. "Was there anyone here just n ow? I thought I
heard voices."
"Nop e, just me, myself and I as usual. Well, plus the television." When Leon said&nb sp;nothing more
Sora saluted him in a&nb sp;mocking manner. "Goodnight, sir. I will re port at 0700 tomorrow
morning."
Leon&nbs p;ignored Sora's sarcasm as he heard the ;teen's bedroom door slam. Sighing, Leon fell back
against the cheap couch cushions,& nbsp;his head hurting and back aching. It&nbs p;was another boring day at
work, as&nbs p;was usual for him. He hadn't been to&n bsp;the dojo in ages and he wondered if& nbsp;his students
even cared about going ;anymore. He hadn't exactly asked Cloud to&nb sp;fill in for him and he had
heard —interestingly enough—about ;Cloud's new assignment. He hadn't been out&n bsp;in a long time;
he wanted to&nb sp;go out and have some downtime. He des perately needed to unwind and he would < br> have gladly liked Cloud, Yuffie and Yuna& nbsp;to accompany him. 'Yes…but I haven't talked to them
in weeks n ow...' he mused as he listened to So ra rummage around in his room, trying to be
inconspicuous but not succeeding, no t by a long shot. He was tired and& nbsp;wanted nothing more,
now, than to g o to sleep. He was just about to le an over when his phone buzzed. He took&n bsp;a quick
look at the caller ID, made a sour face before he flipped it&nb sp;open.
"Hello Mom."
"Hi honey. How&nbs p;is he doing? Is he asleep yet? How&nbs p;have his grades been this semester?"
L eon soured even more. "Yes. He just went to bed. His grades are stellar, as ;usual. All A's and
B's. When are y ou and dad coming home?"
The voice on the other end was cheery and light,&n bsp;but Leon sensed fakeness leaking through. ;"I'm
not sure. We'll be home for w hatever holiday is next. Did you two nee d anything? I hope you
realize that ;I will send you whatever I can. Sora's& nbsp;tuition will not be cheap. Oh Leon, ;saving for
his college is killing your& nbsp;father and I. Has he been behaving?"&nbs p;
"No mother, we're great, thanks. He's been wonderful. But you…I really&nb sp;have to go. Work." His
teeth felt&nbs p;like they were going to break as he&nb sp;ground the words out.
"Oh, alright th en. Send our love. Goodnight."
"Goodnight&nbs p;mother," he replied quietly. The beep at&nb sp;the other end signaled the end of her call
and Leon threw the phone at&n bsp;the wall. It cracked into many pieces&nbs p;and he cursed his bad luck.
"Shit&acir c;€¦now I'm going to need to buy& nbsp;a new one. Fuck…" He sunk into the couch cushions,
annoyed at&nbs p;how uncomfortable they were. He was trying& nbsp;his best to provide a better life f or Sora
but they just didn't have t he money. 'Correction…our dad is a jackass and is hording all the < br> money. And mom puts in money when sh e can…but who are we kidding.& nbsp;Unless Sora gets
straight A's and a scholarship…he isn't going to ;college.' Leon felt awful lying to Sora& nbsp;about
why they lived the way they&n bsp;did. But he couldn't tell his brother,&nb sp;his LITTLE brother, the truth.
Sora w as no idiot but he still didn't want&nbs p;Sora to worry about anything. So he li ed to him, every
day. He told him&n bsp;their father and mother loved him; but&nb sp;that they were having financial
problems.& nbsp;He hoped that, even now, Sora hadn't&nbs p;figured it out but he had the distinct feeling that
his brother knew everythin g. He was just drifting into sleep when& nbsp;he heard sniffling from the
hallway.&nbs p;'I think by now…I've damned&nb sp;us both.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sora l et out a small sniffle as he turned ;back to the closet. He knew Leon had&nb sp;been lying, for
years. Suppressing the&nbs p;tears, Sora reached for the closet doorknob . 'Now isn't the time for my
proble ms.' He sniffled again. "You guys can co me out now but you have to be quiet or else my
brother will come in&nb sp;here, got it?"
Larxene huffed as ;she shoved Marluxia out of the closet w here he'd been pressed against her so tight she thought she'd suffocate. Luckily ;for him he managed to stumble out, than ks to her
powerful shove, but still ;land quietly and gracefully on his feet.&nbs p;Sighing in relief at the lack of
noise Sora motioned for them to sit on&n bsp;his bed while he perched himself at his desk, which
lacked a computer or&nbs p;any décor aside from a pencil, ;a pen and a desk lamp. Marluxia
im mediately noted the lack of décor&nbs p;and raised a brow to which Sora gave&n bsp;him an angry stare.
Unfazed by the&n bsp;whole silent interlude, Larxene leaned against Sora's lone pillow and began
polishing& nbsp;her knives again as if there was no one else in the room. When nothing ;was said Sora
finally let out an e longated sigh.
"Hey, are you gonna spill or what man?" He blinked expectantly as Marluxia.
"Listen, Sora…" Mar luxia trailed off when he realized Larxene&nb sp;had paused and was staring at
him&nbs p;too. He threw her a death glare. "Woul d you care not to listen Miss Larxene?"& nbsp;
"The hell I won't," she snapped. "I f he's gonna know then I deserve to ;know."
"What's going on you two?" The&n bsp;younger brunette seemed frustrated by their&nb sp;conversation,
which hadn't even started. " Look, I have school tomorrow and unless you're gonna spill about all
this, then& nbsp;I am just gonna go to bed and stick both of you back in the closet."&n bsp;
Larxene jumped at this, her knife pr essed firmly against Marluxia's neck. He didn 't seem fazed
by this as he nodded& nbsp;calmly at Sora's comment. "Spill pretty boy or I will."
"If you would be&nb sp;so kind to remove your temperamental blade Miss Larxene," he whispered.
"Then I&nb sp;would be more than happy to oblige yo u." She slowly removed the knife from hi s throat
and settled back against the&nb sp;pillow as Marluxia cleared his throat. "Wh ere would you like me to
start?" Hi s posture changed suddenly and his shoulders& nbsp;sagged ever so slightly in the dim
lighting of the room. Larxene did a ;double-take. "I suppose…you'll want&nbs p;to hear why I looked at
you that& nbsp;way the day we met?" Sora nodded an d Larxene smirked. "You…reminded me of him.
You look like what he ;would look like if he were here today&a circ;€¦if he were around. When I say
that…" He trailed off ;again and both Sora and Larxene stared at him intently. "I do not wish to
further discuss said matter. However, I will tell you the reason why I have ;come here and not
gone anywhere else.&n bsp;There is…something of a secret& nbsp;being hidden in a place that I do&n bsp;not have
access to at the moment.&nb sp;I heard that your brother has the acc ess I need, that we need."
"What pl ace could my brother possibly have access&nbs p;to that could help you?" Sora's inquiry&nbs p;made
Larxene tense and she suddenly lo oked off to the side, which caused Sora& nbsp;to narrow his eyes.
"Hey, what the& nbsp;hell is going on here Larxene? What ;are YOU even doing here, and with HIM?& nbsp;I
thought you hated him?"
"I d o," she snapped to which Marluxia growled&nbs p;uncharacteristically but Larxene didn't appear < br> phased. "Look…whatever he is tr ying to access…I need too. And I know, for a damn fact, that
Leon has access to the place and the&nb sp;information."
"Which is…?" Sora ventured and Larxene sighed, her eyebrow s knitting together. "Wait…does
this have anything to do with Namine a nd the whole…incident?"
"I nee d your brother's pass code to his comput er and his ID card to KH International&n bsp;offices. And
I know you know where&n bsp;they are Leonhart…so retrieve t hem or I will get them myself." She ;
raised her knives to glint in the dim lighting. "And I'll use whatever force&nb sp;necessary."
Sora blanched and Marluxia sig hed at how tactful Larxene was in that&n bsp;moment. He didn't doubt
that she was intelligent but right now she wasn't sc oring any points with him. And Sora look ed
like he was about to have an&nbs p;aneurism. She doubted it was a serious ;issue but she decided that
they were&nb sp;past parading around the issue like Marlux ia seemed to think. Instead of being pha sed
by the many irritated looks the ;brunette was throwing in her direction she&n bsp;charged right past him
and cornered Sora against his desk. The younger brunette&n bsp;gulped in genuine shock and
nervousness&n bsp;as Larxene's antennae twitched madly, her ;ice blue eyes boring into his and her&n bsp;lips
set in a smirk he'd never seen before. It looked vaguely like a sn arl, or like something resembling
a fera l grin. He heard the clank of her k nives against his metal desk and felt sw eat bead at his
forehead in anxiety ;about his brother hearing them. For his ;part, Marluxia was staring at his nails ;
like a disinterested girlfriend, rolling his eyes as Larxene's smirk grew in diamete r.
"Hehe…" Her chuckle sounded menacing and she couldn't help but let& nbsp;it out. "Sora, you know
how much&nb sp;I would hate to take your precious li fe away from Namine…you two be ing friends
and all…and poor&n bsp;Kairi…so how about you help&nbs p;us? I will take your help by force&nbs p;or I will just
cut you—"
"That's enough."
Larxene growled as&nbs p;she felt Marluxia's glare on her back. ;Narrowing her eyes she raised her
brows . "What did you say?"
"I said that' s enough. You're acting like a child you crazy witch. Do you really think we&nbs p;are
going to get his help with yo u threatening him like this?" Marluxia stood& nbsp;and grabbed her wrist.
She whirled around to face him, her knives headed fo r his throat; but Marluxia had had quite
enough practice and encounters to know& nbsp;what she was going to do. He deftly grabbed her hand
as it came toward s him and glared at her. "Listen, maybe& nbsp;you should have just asked him. What's&n bsp;
your problem? Do you always resort t o violence when someone doesn't do what you want? If
you get him in trouble he won't be able to help us at&nbs p;all."
Larxene's eyes twitched as she f elt her anger building. 'Who the hell ;does he think he is?' She
smirked&n bsp;at him though she knew it appeared b itter. "It's a dog-eat dog-world out there.&n bsp;Don't tell
me you don't agree girly& nbsp;man?"
"I do, but sometimes you can' t always do that. That's not the way&nbs p;the whole world works, let
alone peopl e you call your friends." Marluxia's gaze&nbs p;softened as her eyes drifted to the si de. He
turned to Sora. "Listen Sora,&nbs p;we are going to need those codes soon& nbsp;so if you can get them, it
wou ld be greatly appreciated."
The young&nb sp;boy nodded and he pointed towards his ;bed. "It's not much…but one o f you can use it
tonight. I can&nbs p;sleep on the couch or the floor. And&n bsp;I'll work on the access codes." He g lanced
from Marluxia to Larxene and noti ced how the blonde had pulled into herse lf again. While he
was used to her& nbsp;mood swings from word of mouthâ€&r dquo;mainly Roxas and Namine—he had& nbsp;yet to
actually experience anything like it. Feeling like an intruder he began&n bsp;to back away. "Um…I'm
gonn a go to the kitchen to get a drink. You guys want anything?"
"Water would&n bsp;be great, thanks," Marluxia replied tiredly,&n bsp;Larxene's wrists still in his grip though
she'd become increasingly quiet and wit hdrawn. He sighed as Sora closed the doo r behind him
before refocusing his atten tion on the blonde haired nymph before h im. She was oddly quiet and
still, which worried him more than her attacking&nbs p;him. "Hey, witch…what's wrong?" < br> "Stop it."
He felt his eyes widen&nb sp;at how quiet her voice was and how&nb sp;her wrists suddenly began to tremble.
"What?"
"You don't understand anything. You& nbsp;don't know anything about me, or what's& nbsp;happened in this
place; therefore you&nb sp;don't understand why I do what I do.& nbsp;And I have the right mind to stab&n bsp;you
and rip you into a millions ;pieces right now flower boy." Larxene looked up at him, her eyes
glistening but narrowed in anger at the man before&nbs p;her. "You think you can come in here&n bsp;and fix
everything? You're a fool. A fter tonight you're damn near lucky you're&nb sp;alive."
He sighed again. "What's with ;you? If you keep saying I don't underst and then why don't you
explain? I'm ;more than willing to listen because somehow& nbsp;I get this strange feeling this isn't&nb sp;quite
as insignificant an issue as yo u're all making it sound." He released h er wrists and watched with
no surprise&n bsp;as she went to the bed and curled&nb sp;into herself at its corner. He joined ;her though he
sat a few feet away. "I have things in my life that I&n bsp;don't share and don't intend toâ€&r dquo;especially not
with the likes of so meone like you. But that doesn't take aw ay from the issue of your sister and&nbs p;
what's been going on, the weird things in this town. And tonight, what was&nbs p;that all about? How
about you start&nb sp;telling me some things?"
She chuckled ;bitterly. "Why? You're no friend. Why should I trust you?"
"You don't have to," he responded tiredly. "But you owe it&n bsp;to your sister, and yourself, to fix ;
some things. Why not take help where&nb sp;you can get it? It's not everyday you meet someone who is
willing to ris k his or her own life to help you&n bsp;take down a billion dollar industry or&nb sp;tycoon, is it?"
While Larxene had to& nbsp;admit that was very true she'd rather&nb sp;die before she let him know they were
in agreement. Sighing, she leaned her&n bsp;head against the cool wall as she aw aited Sora's return for
a much needed&nb sp;glass of water. She felt like she was going to need it if she explained what she
deemed as pointless to the ;situation. "It started more than a few years ago…when Namine and
I&ac irc;€¦when our parents were alive." Ma rluxia stared at her intently and she sn ickered. "Yes, they're
dead, though I'm sure Axel and Roxas did NOT neglect to&n bsp;tell you…oh, poor me, right?"&n bsp;When
he said nothing she continued, her eyes glazing over as she was lost&nb sp;in her memories. "I was
about fi fteen then…my parents had struggled for years to rise above the income ;level we were
at…not poor,&nb sp;but not, by any means, rich or wealth y. There was a change in our situation&a circ;€¦and I
have only one man&nb sp;to "thank" for all his generosity." At&nbs p;this her voice turned bitter. That
eve ning…everything was going to change …"
Marluxia took notice of&nbs p;how much her demeanor had changed and in preparation for her speech
he leaned& nbsp;back in the chair at Sora's desk. T he boy had yet to return and he had the feeling that
the talk of water was all a ploy to avoid being in&n bsp;the room with Larxene. And for some strange
reason as Marluxia looked at her he understood why the boy felt that&nbs p;way. She felt tears burning
at her&nbs p;eyelids again and she fought hard to k eep them at bay though she'd completely forgotten
where she was and who she ;was with in Sora's room as the memories overwhelmed her.
Cora and Phillip we re engaged in a seemingly heated discussion&n bsp;about the cook when Larxene
finally slipped off into her bedroom. Namine had ;excused herself much earlier on during their
dinner and Larxene was simply glad ;she'd managed to slip off in time to&nb sp;avoid her mother, father
and Mr. Sumi tse. Once in the comfort of her own ;room she began to undress for the eveni ng,
going about her nightly routine as&n bsp;she always did. But something in the ;pit of her stomach didn't
feel right&nb sp;and she suddenly felt a swell of butt erflies knotting there. She heard a terrible& nbsp;ruckus
outside and then the sudden slamming of a door, which caused her to& nbsp;look out her window in
curiosity. S he was sure Namine was doing the same&nb sp;and her eyes widened in wonder as she saw
Mr. Sumitse leave; shortly after&nb sp;Cora and Phillip pulled out in their town car, minus their
customary chauffeur.&nb sp;Curiosity got the best of her and she journeyed downstairs towards the
kitchen&nbs p;where she saw Luxord, their longtime cook,& nbsp;packing his cooking utensils.
"Luxord, where are you going?"
The man&nb sp;looked up at her, green eyes tired as he hurried. "Excuse me young miss, but& nbsp;the lady of
the house, Mrs. Cora,&n bsp;has fired me."
Outraged, Larxene c ould only stare. "…what?"
He sighed. "My time is up; I apologiz e young Miss Larxene. Please, apologize to&nb sp;young Miss
Namine for me as well."
"But Luxord, father loves your roas ted Quail! He would never fire you!" Her protests seemed to
fall on deaf ea rs as he kept packing. "Wait, Luxord, yo u can't leave!"
"But I must," he& nbsp;replied solemnly. "I must leave in ten&n bsp;minutes according to your mother."
"< i>Fuck my mother!" This language appeared to& nbsp;have no affect on the cook and Larx ene figured it
was because he was s elf-absorbed at that moment. "Luxord, wait! M y mother and father just left!
You can stay a little longer, can't you? At& nbsp;least until I can help clear this u p?"
He gave her a smile as h e reached into his bag before tossing he r a card, the front which was
embos sed with his name and the other side&nbs p;embossed as well, except there was a l arge Ace on it,
much like th e Ace of spades in a card deck. "Li sten Miss Larxene, should your father ever&nb sp;wish
for me to return, or should ;you ever need anything, please, feel free&nb sp;to contact me. I bid you
goodnight&nb sp;young Misses."
Larxene could only w atch in anger and sadness as Luxord exit ed the large wooden doors, his
head ;not even visible for more than a second through the clear glass windows. She wa s about to
rush after him when she& nbsp;heard footsteps. She whirled around to s ee Namine halfway down the
staircase. Th e young blonde haired girl was giving he r a questioning look though she seemed < br> overly drowsy and Larxene gave her a ;look-over. "Larxene, what was all that commo tion?
Where is Luxord? Has he retired&nb sp;for the night?" The young girl yawned.
"More like forever," she spat as&nbs p;she stood glued to her spot. "Namineâ €¦it's bedtime. We have
school ea rly tomorrow. I'll be up in a minute&nbs p;ok? I'm just going to go call mom ;and dad, all
right?" Namine nodded her& nbsp;consent and seconds later she had disapp eared into her room, the
click signaling she was safe. Sighing, Larxene racked h er brain for a reason as to why Cor a
would have fired their cook of 5& nbsp;years. It seemed odd. She reached for&nb sp;the house phone, holding
it in her&nb sp;hand for mere moments when she heard the door in the front room open. Thinkin g it was
her parents she rushed out to give her mother a piece of her& nbsp;mind but was horrified to Mr.
Sumit se standing there, his eyes staring straight& nbsp;at her. Nervous, she backed away with&nb sp;the full
awareness of her state of&nb sp;dress. He seemed to notice it as well as his eyes swept over her body, < br> his gaze lingering far longer than she&nb sp;liked. Gathering her confidence and her be st nonchalant
but polite face she addres sed him.
"Good evening again Mr. Sumitse. What brings your return to the Isuki household? Did you
forget your coa t?" She knew this was a stupid question& nbsp;in itself because he was definitely
wearing his coat; but she refused to le t him see her uncertainty. "Can I help&n bsp;you with
something?"
His eyes ;were unreadable as he approached her. "Hm&ac irc;€¦yes, indeed—perhaps you ;can, Miss
Larxene. You see…I& nbsp;returned to have a "chat" with your ;mother. Is she still awake?"
"My ;mother has stepped out for a moment. Bu t if you'd like, I can call our coo k, Mr. Luxord and
he can assist you out. It's very late and we should be getting ready for bed. I have school& nbsp;
tomorrow. Surely you understand Mr. Sumi tse?" Larxene stared back at him though he had
continued approaching her until h e was right before her. When he made&nbs p;no move to take her
offer, she na rrowed her eyes. "Mr. Sumitse, I must in sist that you leave or I will have to call Mr.
Luxord here to escort y ou out. Our mother is not here. There&nb sp;is nothing further I can do for you."
"Oh, but I think there is. And as for your Mr. Luxord…"&n bsp;Mr. Sumitse let out a chuckle. "I do n't
think he'll be assisting you. He&nbs p;is gone and won't be coming back." ;
Larxene shivered. "I don't…unde rstand. What do you want? My mother isn' t here!" She
whispered harshly so as&nbs p;to not awaken Namine. She didn't know how much time had passed but
the wa y he was leering at her caused her to lash out. She quickly threw the phone at him and
made a mad dash fo r the living room area where the TV ;was still blaring the evening news. She ;
paid little attention to it as&n bsp;she grabbed for the other cordless locate d there. She was fumbling
with it a s she heard his footsteps approaching slowly& nbsp;but firmly, determined—and she freaked
and dropped the phone. Scrambling&nbs p;for it, she was punching in the number s 911 when she
noticed him standing ;by the TV, watching it intently. She li fted her gaze and tuned in, finally, to& nbsp;
what was actually being said, and h er face faltered. "Mother…fatherâ& euro;¦" the picture before her
showed& nbsp;a clear view of a white towns car&n bsp;crashed into the rocks below, smashed bey ond repair.
The people inside had been&n bsp;declared dead on sight though no names&nb sp;had been released.
Dropping the phone,&nbs p;Larxene fell to her knees as tears wel led up in her eyes. "No…no&aci rc;€¦this isn't
happening…"< /i>
"Ah…but it is, Miss&nbs p;Larxene." Her blood ran cold at his tr emulous, slightly exhilarated tone. She
glanc ed up at him and found his golden e yes gazing back at her, still unreadable.&nbs p;She was so
numb at the revelation ;that she didn't have time to react as&n bsp;he stooped down to her, his strong < br> hand grabbing her chin and holding it&nbs p;still. Her blue eyes held fire and hat red as they looked at
each other an d he simply chuckled. She felt sick as&n bsp;he continued and she began to struggle;&n bsp;he
squashed her effort quickly, his hands landing on her wrists and binding them behind her back
as he flipped her squirming form around until her back ;was flush against his chest. "Your mother&nb sp;
never understood your intelligence, and yo ur father never appreciated your devotion. An d it's a
shame all those stupid, ch ildish boys do not see the beauty I ;see in you Larxene."
She shivered&nbs p;in fear and disgust as she felt one&nb sp;of his hands slide down her side unti l it rested on
her thigh. "But I&nb sp;see it Larxene. And I intend to have& nbsp;it all. With your mother and father ;
gone…you are truly mine." ;
"I will report you, you sick son&nbs p;of a bitch. I will take Namine and&nbs p;me so far from here—"
She was cutoff mid-sentence by the low,& nbsp;seductive chuckle in her ear. "I suppose I should have
told you soonerâ&eu ro;¦" she felt sick when his tongue&nb sp;snaked out and licked her earlobe. "Cora&n bsp;signed
all her assets and possessions&nbs p;over to me a month ago. So you se e…all guardianship rights
belong&nb sp;to me. You and Namine are mine, thoug h I care not for that fragile creature.& nbsp;You are
mine, Larxene."
Larxene&n bsp;could not believe what she was hearing.&n bsp;'Cora…that stupid bitch! Selfish&nbs p;whore!' Her
mind was screaming, hating ;her mother even in her death and not&nb sp;believing it at the same time.
Tears& nbsp;began to fall from her icy blue eye s as she gathered all her strength and&n bsp;began struggling
madly against his grip.& nbsp;She was about to scream when the ha nd that rested on her thigh quickly
silenced her. She fought violently but he&nb sp;was far too strong for her and she&nb sp;felt herself growing
tired, not sure how much time had passed and how long&nb sp;he'd held her in his vice-like grip. Just
when she thought she was finished&n bsp;he let her go and she stumbled forwa rd on the carpet. "Go
Larxene, Run. ;I do so enjoy a chase."
Even&nbs p;in her weakened state she glared at hi m. "I'm going to get Namine! Stay away&n bsp;from me you
bastard! I already diale d 911!"
"Namine is sleeping sound ly. She will not hear you or anything&nb sp;else for that matter. She was,
after& nbsp;all, quite tired, was she not?"
Larxene's eyes widened. "You…you&nbs p;drugged her?!"
"I simply helped her& nbsp;sleep," was his reply.
Marluxia watc hed with renewed interest a Larxene's sentenc e trailed off and she was quiet once&nbs p;
again. When she didn't say anything mo re he reached out to touch her; she ;twitched and dove for
him, her knives&n bsp;drawn again. He reacted quickly, deftly g rabbing her flailing arms and
intercepting&nb sp;her as she drove her knives towards h is neck. She let out a small cry wh en she came
to, realizing where she ;was and who she was with in the sm all room. She stuttered,
uncharacteristically,&nbs p;and Marluxia gave her a bored, blank s tare.
"Hey…are you feeling bet ter?" He was still holding her wrists. < br> She looked frightened and angry all toget her. "What…what the hell are y ou talking about?"
He sighed. "You never got past the part where this Mr. S umitse character came over for dinner
an d how he gave you the creeps. I'm a ssuming he is the man we met tonight?"&n bsp;When she nodded
he pressed further. "And he is the man who is responsible&nb sp;for…everything, I take it?"
She nodded again though this time she p ut her head down, her eyes burning thoug h she wouldn't
let him see. "So now you know…enough…to know why things are so tense, why I ;hate him so
much…"
"He&n bsp;can only hurt Namine if you let him, " he whispered quietly to her though he& nbsp;wasn't sure she
heard. "Listen, I d on't think Sora's coming back with that water. You can have the bed. I think&nbs p;I
need to go out and take care&nb sp;of some stuff with Demyx."
Defiantly, ;she stood and grabbed his arm, which ca used him to raise a brow at her eve n though
he remained more docile than&nb sp;she ever could. "I'm coming with you."&nbs p;
"Why?"
She paused, not sure why s he was so determined to follow him to&nb sp;Demyx's. It seemed like it was
a ;personal issue between the two but at t he moment, Larxene wasn't sure she wanted&nbs p;to be in
Sora's house, especially with Leon in the next room. "It doesn't ;matter. I'm coming with you, and
that's final."
He shrugged and began towards&n bsp;Sora's window to climb out, his efforts&n bsp;strained to stay as silent
as possib le. "Suit yourself. I'm not sure what yo u're going to get out of this, but if you must, then
I won't stop you. "
Her eyes glanced at him as h e worked and her fingers twiddled nervously&n bsp;as long as he couldn't
seeâ€&r dquo;she was still uncomfortable and uncertain.&nb sp;Marluxia rolled his eyes as he watched&nbs p;her head
towards the window, her expre ssion solemn as she seemed to observe it . He wanted to ask what
she was&nbs p;doing but she suddenly jumped up on th e sill and was outside not a moment ;later. He
followed suit and was surpris ed to find that she was almost out of the thin alleyway that
separated Sora 's house from all the other project look ing housing that lined the block. He qui ckly
swept past her only to feel he r slender hand catch his arm. He turned& nbsp;to face her and Larxene
smirked as& nbsp;she shook her finger at him.
"What? "
"You can't go to Demyx's house wi thout a bribe. We should stop by the&nbs p;local candy store first."
She began wa lking in the direction of sweet smelling ;aromas.
He gave her a curious stare&nbs p;as he walked behind her. He'd known De myx for years and had never
once ne eded a bribe, but maybe, just maybe, he& nbsp;thought, he didn't know him so well ;anymore.
Sighing, he caught up with her in hopes to better understand her appro ach towards his spineless
friend even th ough Demyx seemed to have suddenly grown ;a spine at their last encounter. Once < br> they'd picked up the candy they began&nbs p;walking over the bridge of Traverse Town&nb sp;towards the
familiar, well lit, warm and welcoming streets of Twilight Town. Peopl e were still out as it was
relative ly light outside still. The street lamps ;had just been turned on and both Marlux ia and
Larxene could see couples strolli ng about engrossed in romantic activities. He scowled. Larxene
looked down. It had&nb sp;never been something she was particularly fond of, and Marluxia had been
al b ut interested in flighty, airhead girls. They were mere feet away from Demyx's house& nbsp;when
they spotted him perched on hi s porch with some Twinkies. Zexion was b y his side, silent and
solitary as he peered at them from behind his lavend er locks with nonchalance.
Marluxia didn't&nb sp;beat around the bush as Demyx lead th em inside his quaint house without as much as a hello. He knew what his&nbs p;friend was there for; no questions were&nbs p;necessary. "I'm not
going to tell you. "
"Demyx, I know that you were asso ciated with him. Xigbar told me as much, " Marluxia pressed.
Larxene looked murderous& nbsp;in the corner. "I need you to tell& nbsp;me everything you know."
The young musician cowered. "Mar…I can'tâ&eu ro;¦"
Graceful as his name and tr ademark, Marluxia had his friend against a&nb sp;wall, the rusted key
digging into his neck. "Demyx…"
"Okâ€&br vbar;but I warned you." He settled down against the chase as Marluxia fell back into his own
chair while Larxene stood&n bsp;behind it, arms crossed over her bosom.&n bsp;"When…we were young, my
da d…he used to work for a v ery powerful man…a man in the& acirc;€¦pharmaceutical industry." He
could& nbsp;see Larxene bristle and Marluxia's face turning ashen. "He was testing a new dru g on
children so…he threw ;me to the dogs. He had me make fri ends so he could test them, this man,&nb sp;
this…friend of my father's. ;But when things got bad…my fa ther was killed. Mar…you dad,
Lionel…was paid a large s um of money to bring you backâ€&br vbar;to him. They made me be your
f riends but it didn't go to plan. We ;really became friends…it was me&ac irc;€¦my fault. They found my
let ters…the ones I sent you, the& nbsp;money I sent for you, Jacob, and De laney. He found
you…because I& nbsp;asked Delaney for your address… ;I'm so sorry Mar…"
Marluxia's knuckles were white as e gripped the&nb sp;armrests. Larxene raised her eyebrows as h e
kunai slipped from between her fingers . "You…but…Jacob is dead."
"No, I loved Jacob like a li ttle brother! Mar, please, I—"
"Shut up." His voice was like a tho usand steel hooks that stabbed Demyx in the heart. Without
another word he snatc hed the key and was out the door. " Larxene."
She nodded silently, disappearing i nto the orange hued sky as Demyx's cries drifted after them.
There was a st rained, tense silence that settled over them, thick and hot but cold and weary. They
were headed nowhere and Larxene won dered where the flower boy was going. He seemed so out
of it. Larxene had&n bsp;to wonder. It made her antsy.
"Hey,& nbsp;flower boy." No answer. "Hello?"
He ;spun around to face her, eyes ablaze. S he actually did a double take as his&nbs p;burning sapphire
eyes pinned her to he r spot. "W-H-A-T?" When she didn't answer&aci rc;€”too stunned, it seemed—he
whirled back around, muttering obscenities&n bsp;under his breath. "What is it witch?"&nbs p;
"Stop calling me that! Why did you&nbs p;ask me to follow you?"
He sighed. ;"I don't know." He really didn't. "I ju st don't."
She scowled as his demeanor&n bsp;turned slightly crest-fallen. She couldn't dea l with sadness. It
wasn't her area. ;"Follow me girly man." She began to pul l him.
"Where are we going?" He que stioned.
She didn't answer but took him& nbsp;to the only place she knew made her feel better. 'Sunset Hill.' The
sun&nbs p;was setting, the sky illuminated with all&n bsp;the colors of the rainbow, the view breathtaking.
Larxene stopped just behind the brick wall to gaze, her soul feeling&nb sp;light. It was the one place she
could let go of the façadeâ&eur o;”some of it anyway. Marluxia let out& nbsp;a small gasp at the sight before him. Its beauty was endless. He could ;see the ocean, deep blue, calm and sere ne as the sun set to
leave them&nbs p;in the famous Twilight Town. He was st ill drinking in the scenery when a famil iar
scent hit is nose. His appreciative& nbsp;gaze shifted to the nymph sitting down&n bsp;blowing smoke out of
her mouth. She& nbsp;blinked at him before offering him the&n bsp;small white object. He accepted it.
"I didn't think you smoked."
She ch uckled, already mellowing out from their tens ion filled past day. "You didn't exactly ;ask
me."
"You just don't seem the& nbsp;type."
Another chuckle. "And what, pray& nbsp;tell, type am I?"
Marluxia looked t houghtful as he inhaled deeply. "Should I&nbs p;really answer that?"
Her knives flashed&nbs p;in the now moonlit sky. "Hmm… ;at your own discretion. I can't guarantee&nb sp;
your safety."
"No thank you," he ;murmured as he took a seat semi-next to her. "What did you need from
Demyx ?"
Instead of tensing and lashing out&nb sp;like he had predicated she simply laid&nbs p;back, hand under her
head as she looked up at the twining starts in the&n bsp;sky. "You do remember our encounter with& nbsp;my
step-father?" Marluxia nodded. "I nev er finished my story. My step-fatherâ€& brvbar;he is the scumbag
responsible for ;so much of my misery…of so&nb sp;much misery all over. Yours too, apparentl y."
Marluxia nodded again. Another sigh. ;"Sorry for your loss." She chuckled. "What's so funny?"
"You're not what I expe cted flower boy." She laughed again. "I thought you might turn tail and
run ;after that interlude with my step-fatherâ&e uro;¦Demyx was right about you."
For&n bsp;some reason her comment bothered him but& nbsp;he let it go as she leaned over&nbs p;here, arms planted
on either side of&n bsp;her elbows. Once again, instead of lashin g out she simply smiled and opened
her once closed eyes. They stared at eac h other for a moment until she laughed&n bsp;again. "You're
eyes…they look&n bsp;like the night sky," she whispered as&nbs p;she raised a hand to his cheek, her&nb sp;
fingertips stopping as she brushed his&nbs p;skin. "SO much pain…so muchâ ;€¦"
He frowned as her smile ;vanished; replaced with her lips in a w eary, thin line. He shook his
head. ;"There's some in you too." She let out& nbsp;another peel of laughter as he hand ;fell to her
abdomen, her other moving&n bsp;to her eyes as he entire body heaved with the full extent of her
exerti on. Marluxia smirked. "Why aren't you like&nb sp;this more often?"
She stopped. "Why w ould you want everyone to know?"
He ;looked thoughtful again. "I want to know&nbs p;you."
Larxene shivered as he hands dri fted down, her elbows coming up to suppo rt her Their noses
were almost touching, their breath intermingling as she inhaled&nb sp;and exhaled nervously. "Why?"
"Becauseâ&e uro;¦you're the rare flower that I wan t in my garden."
Her breath hitched as one of his hands came up to&nbs p;cradle the back of her head, which was
swimming with pure confusion. His hand& nbsp;slid through her short hair as her eyes slid closed, the
feel of his f ingers comforting her hectic mind. It suddenl y felt hazy and her eyes began to d roop.
Sleepiness was beginning to overcome&nb sp;her as she felt his hands lifting her tired body to what he
deemed a&nbs p;comfortable position. She blinked one last time, his calm face coming into mild foc us
before she found sleep take her. ;Marluxia stared down at her slumbering form& nbsp;nestled between
his two legs. She h ad immediately curled up, her breathing even& nbsp;as he continued to run his
fingers& nbsp;through her hair. It was soft like he'd originally thought, as was her fair ;skin. Her
eyelashes fluttered we he tou ched them and Marluxia stopped. 'I can't&a circ;€”' He felt his eyes widen&nbs p;
at the realization. She was truly ench anting. And at that exact moment he want ed nothing more
than to kiss her, t he moon shining on her pale pink lips&nb sp;looking all the more inviting as the
minutes passed. He blanched as she sighe d, her fingers curling around his coat a nd a small smile
placed her lips. W ithout thinking he touched a finger to h is lips before gentle pressing it to her s.
The night sky sparkled with the stars, the only witnesses to their interlude. And he was
particularly glad for t his.
Back at home Namine was staring&nbs p;out the big window in the living room. Roxas and Axel had
gone out for&nb sp;the evening. They had invited Sora, Kairi& nbsp;and Riku over but none had shown up .
Kairi was home with her uncle, So ra was with Leon and she knew nothing&nb sp;of Riku's
whereabouts. She was still stargazing when there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Riku.&nbs p;Open up."
She stiffened. "Oh… ;just a minute." She slowly opened the d oor to reveal Riku standing there.
He&nb sp;had a sleeping bag, an overnight bag in the other, while a cigarette hung fro m his lips.
"Hi…umâ€&brv bar;it's just you tonight."
"Yeahâ€&brv bar;Kairi called me. I ran into Sora on& nbsp;the way here." He dumped his bags b y the staircase
and made his way to wards the kitchen. "How about Tea and a& nbsp;movie, Isuki?"
She gave him a withe ring look. "Listen, you don't have to sa y just because you feel bad."
He no dded. "I want to. So…pick out& nbsp;a movie."
"Fine." She marched over to the movies and, noisily, began to rif le through them. She settled on
a m ovie called Pride and Prejudice. Riku raised& nbsp;a brow at this but said nothing as& nbsp;they settled on
the couch, Namine a s far away from Riku as possible.
H e gave her a pointed stare. "Are you&nbs p;that scared of me Isuki?"
Horrified at being called out, she huffed. "I am&nbs p;not. But I don't actually know you tha t well."
He laughed. "Alright. Whatever. ;Play the movie."
The movie was hal fway through when she realized it was be ginning to resemble her life. She
ignore d Riku as she heard his light snored&nbs p;filter into her ears. Sighing, she flipped& nbsp;the TV off in
hopes to go upst airs to her room for well deserved sleep . She'd been having nightmares. She was
halfway up the stairs when she heard&nbs p;Riku call out to her. "What?" Her resp onse was forced and
curt.
"I said,& nbsp;why are you running off so soonâ&e uro;¦Namine?"
She froze. She hadn't re ally expected him to say anything to her , not when he was supposedly
sleeping.&n bsp;She turned to look at him, mortified ;to see him so close to her within just seconds.
"I…I don't know& nbsp;what you're talking about."
He gave ;her a small smile as he started to ;ascend the stairs, stopping just a few inches from her.
"Do you want to go for a walk in the backyard? It's a nice night."
Namine's eyes widened as&n bsp;she felt him take her hand, his skin warm but callus. She inhaled
sharply&nb sp;as he began to lead her down the ;staircase and into the backyard. The moon&nb sp;was bright,
the stars sparkling and t here was a slight warm breeze. Namine fe lt herself relax as she let him
lea d her towards the ancient, dried out fou ntain in the middle of all those ancient statues. She
took a seat as he&nbs p;released her hand and leaned against a ;statue. "So, Namine…it's just you& nbsp;and
me…what do you do&nbs p;for fun around here?"
"You asked me&nb sp;that already."
He sighed. "Okâ€&brvb ar;so…are you going to prom th is year or what?" She shook her head.&nb sp;He stared.
"No date?" She nodded. "Hm …well, I think the gang and&nb sp;I can help you with that."
"No," ;she spat. "I am perfectly capable of do ing that myself. Besides, the person I w as going to
ask is probably already ;taken."
"Oh?" He perked up. "Does Namin e Isuki have a crush?"
She felt her face fill with heat and she gasped.&nbs p;"You—you! Shut up!"
He chuckl ed at her blatant inability to form prop er sentences as a result of his comment. "It's ok
to have a crush, you ;know."
"I don't have a crush." She ;said, crossing her arms over her chest. ;
"So you're in love?" He lit another&nbs p;cigarette, inhaling quietly as Namine stared&nbs p;at him, her eyes
following the smoke&n bsp;that clouded the front of his face. "It's ok to be in love Namine. Why are
you so afraid of it?"
"I'm ;not afraid of being in love…I 'm afraid of the person I am in lov e with right now," she
replied quietly.& nbsp;
"Who is that? Is it ok to ;ask you that?" He questioned. He wasn't ;surprised when she shook her
head. "Hm& acirc;€¦that's too bad. You should tel l him before its too late."
Again, she shook her head. "No, I…I&n bsp;can't. It's complicated."
"Nothing's that ;complicated Isuki. Just be honest; you'll be fine if you just tell him. I'm sur e he
returns the feelings. You're a ;great girl. Give yourself some credit Isuki. "
She gave him a weak smile in ;response, not really sure what he was g etting at but not that
bothered. "Yes&ac irc;€¦ok…um…thanks ;Riku." The rest of the evening passed u neventfully with them
watching another movie, this one being Riku's pick. The Shining . Namine thought she'd faint at
all ;the blood in the movie, though there we ren't a lot of parts like that. However, there were
enough that she ended u p running to the bathroom once followed by profusely hiding herself
under the co vers. Riku's laughter didn't seem to help&nbs p;all that much ether but she dealt with it,
glad for the added company. By the end of the evening Namine found&nbs p;herself snuggled up to
Riku's side, so und asleep. For his part Riku too was&nb sp;asleep when Axel and Roxas entered the&nbs p;
quiet house. The pair stared at the&nb sp;spectacle the two had created on the couch, the TV's blue
screen blaring into the background.
"Should we take a picture?" Axel asked, camera at the ready.&nb sp;
Roxas thought. "Hm…yeah but ;make it quick. I don't think we should& nbsp;piss off Riku. And I don't
want&nbs p;to hurt Namine." Nodding, Axel snapped the& nbsp;picture. Luckily, neither seemed phased and&n bsp;
continued their peaceful slumber. Smiling,&nbs p;Axel and Roxas made their way upstairs ;to their own
room, quiet but laughing&n bsp;the whole time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The look Yuffie gave Tifa was far more ;apprehensive than the doctor anticipated and ;she
wondered, briefly, if the young nur se had been listening to late night radi o—or Aerith's
ramblings. Cloud was seated next to her sipping his coffe e as he read a report about sexual
assault with mild disinterest. Tifa had the urge to hit him over the head f or his stupidity and lack
of seriousness regarding the case; but she was too&nbs p;focused on Yuffie to waste time on Clo ud.
Across from her Yuffie was clutching the folder containing Larxene's information as though it
was going to disintegrate&n bsp;within her grasp. Tifa let out a sig h as the younger woman finally let go&nb sp;
of the manila folder and slid it ;across the table towards her superior.
"So…where is this from?"
"Trav erse Town Hospital. I recognized the last&nbs p;name Isuki and I…I just got& nbsp;a feeling so I opened
it and a ll the information was there. I remember ;that Axel kid saying something when they&nbs p;
brought Namine in here. Not to mention that the resemblance between the two is striking. All I
have to do to ;really prove it is to go back and subpoena the records from the Adoption Agency ,
and look up information regarding thei r parents will…ah…though& nbsp;I don't have the exact power
to&nbs p;do that," Yuffie managed in one breath.&nbs p;
Tifa poked Cloud's side and he al most dropped his coffee. "Hey, what gives?"&n bsp;
"I need you to go put in some&n bsp;subpoenas to the Local Adoption Agency an d subpoena all records
from this girl's& nbsp;parents—they should all be in&n bsp;Traverse Town." Tifa blinked thoughtfully. "Yo u
do have jurisdiction there, right?" "Well yeah…this is the FBI. ;I have jurisdiction pretty much anywhere," h e replied lamely.
"Well, then get the&nb sp;hell on it you bastard!" Tifa shouted ;and this time, he did drop his coffee&n bsp;and
all over the article at that.&nb sp;"You fucking klutz…" He shot&nbs p;her a completely dirty look to which < br> Tifa did a double take. "Cloudâ€&br vbar;I'm sorry…it's just thatâ&eur o;¦" She trailed off when he whirled&n bsp;
around, crushed his Styrofoam cup and&nbs p;tossed it in the nearest trash can. "C loud?"
"Fuck off Tifa. I don't know ;what the hell your problem has been the last six months, but take it
out&n bsp;on someone else. Fuck this. I'm out. ;I'll talk to you when I find something& nbsp;out." He gave her
one last venomous look before walking towards the door. " Goodnight Yuffs."
"Goodnight!" Yuffie shouted ;back with a semi-cheerful smile as Tifa ;slumped in her seat. The
young brunette turned towards her older peer and let&n bsp;out a low whistle. "Wow…Tifa&ac irc;€¦you gotta
really work on th is broken heart thing. Cloud has moved o n and so should you."
"What do you& nbsp;know?" Tifa hissed as she gave Yuffie&nb sp;a death glare. The younger girl simply&nbs p;
chuckled as she went back to shuffling through papers. Tifa scowled. "Whatever. I&n bsp;know…I
know, ok? But every time I see him…I just ge t so angry…I'm sorry… ;"
"Don't apologize to me," Yuffie repli ed. "I'm not the one who you're yelling& nbsp;at 24/7. I'm not the
one with the broken heart raining on everyone else's&n bsp;parade."
"I do not have a broken&nbs p;heart," Tifa answered in annoyance as she&n bsp;swatted at Yuffie with her
stack of& nbsp;medical papers. She knew that it was&nbs p;the ultimate lie to say this but she&n bsp;wasn't about to
admit that to anyone . Aerith had, though unknowingly, taken her&n bsp;heart when she and cloud has
started dating. After they dated it turned seri ous and the next thing Tifa knew, they&n bsp;were
together—it'd been two ;years since then. They'd been happy and ;she'd been lonely, sad, angry, a
whole& nbsp;kaleidoscope of emotions. Yuffie appeared to& nbsp;be the only one who noticed which s he was
eternally grateful for now. Her&n bsp;head hurt as she watched her younger ;friend shuffle through files
and pictures,&n bsp;etc. The younger woman was so absorbed&nb sp;she didn't even notice Tifa staring at&nbs p;her.
This is how Tifa knew Yuffie ;was very involved in their current case.&nbs p;Yet another fact she was
grateful for& nbsp;seeing as to she could continue her ;charade without too much interference from a ny
outside party. Her own conscience was quite enough to last her a lifetime.&nb sp;
"Hey Tifa, I think I found something, " Yuffie chirped.
Tifa reached for her&n bsp;steaming coffee before turning her attention&n bsp;to Yuffie. "Yes? What did you
find?"
"Larxene's file, it's full of sexu al assault kits that were never completed.&nb sp;It looks like she ran
away at se venteen too. She's suffered from numerous bru ises, broken bones, trauma…she was& nbsp;
seeing a counselor—but she ;had very little success."
"Hm… ;" Tifa scoured through the paperwork. "Huh?& nbsp;What's this? I don't believe itâ€& brvbar;"
"What?" Yuffie tried to see wha t her friend was gawking at. "What is&nb sp;it?"
"Yuffie…were you ever around when we had a Dr. Vexen here?"&nb sp;
"Um…no. Not that I can ;recall. Why?" Yuffie looked at her calendar& nbsp;just as Tifa jolted from her
spot,& nbsp;grabbing frantically for her bags and he r coffee. Puzzled, Yuffie darted after her,&n bsp;barely
missing the door to her face& nbsp;as Tifa took long strides towards the&nb sp;elevator. "Tifa, hey! What's
going on?&nbs p;Are we going somewhere?"
Inside the el evator, Tifa frowned. "Yes…we're go ing to see Attorney Kosaka."
"But it's&n bsp;midnight!" Yuffie shrieked as they stepped&nbs p;out of the elevator towards the parking&nbs p;lot.
Tifa unlocked her car, the beepin g of the car alarm alerting Yuffie to&nb sp;the slick, silver BMW
parked in the&n bsp;back of the garage. "Are you nuts? H e is going to flip. It's late Tifa!"&nbs p;
"If he is dedicated to this case, ;then he isn't going to care about time& nbsp;restraints," Tifa said as she
slammed&nb sp;on the gas pedal, the tires squealing ;as she zoomed out of the garage. Yuffie fumbled
for her seatbelt as she re ached for the upper handle above the car window. She was scared and
Tifa kn ew it. "Look, Yuffie, this is really imp ortant. Dr. Vexen is…he's just ;not a very good
doctor. He is a&nb sp;deceptive rat. And I know, for a fact …there is something fishy going&nbs p;on here."
Yuffie could only nod as&nbs p;they pulled into the driveway of Mr. K osaka's expensive house where
the lights ;in the living room were still on, and&n bsp;the TV was blaring. Tifa blinked. "Is&nbs p;he still up?"
She and Yuffie were ;out of the car in minutes and at t he door within seconds. She raised her < br> hand to knock when the door swung op en. "Oh..."
"Good evening Dr. Lockhart. I've been expecting you." Sephiroth gave her& nbsp;a tepid smile. "You're
visit can on ly mean one thing, I imagine?"
She agreed, her face anything but hopeful. "Yes&a circ;€¦it does. We really need to ;talk."
"Come in." Sephiroth closed the door behind them. Inside he turned to Ti fa. "What have you
found?"
"Dr. Vex en…I'm sure you remember him?" ;Tifa tossed the file on the glass table .
Sephiroth eyed it. "Yes…it&n bsp;does seem that we need to talk. Why& nbsp;don't you two lovely ladies have
a& nbsp;seat? Would you like some tea? It's ;going to be a long night."
:Again,&n bsp;imagine said line break inserted here:&nbs p;
(So…first of all, I'd l ike to apologize to my fan base for ;taking so damn long with this chapter.
There were a lot of problems that c ame up, mainly my computer crashing, me moving and not
being able to find m y backups, etc. Anyway, I tried to focus more on Larxene and Marluxia now,
since I know it was beginning to bother& nbsp;people. There's a little more Riku/Namine&nbs p;in here.
Hopefully the things I reveal ed are satisfactory, for now. But please,&nbs p;let me know what you
think. I wel come all criticism, though flames are a less effective form—so keep that&nbs p;in mind. If
you have questions please& nbsp;ask. I will answer them to the best of my ability. Thank you for still ;
reading, reviewing, etc. Love you all. Peace out, until next time.)
Sadistickunai s
so…please do NOT sue me. This is way beyond sta ndard at this point, don't you think?&nbs p;
A/N: Chapter 11 is here after a&nbs p;way too long…or something like&nb sp;that! The rules have not
changed. The boy/boy love shall continue (sorry allâ ;€”it's STILL not the main pairing)&nbs p;as
will the Mature themes (I.E. that&n bsp;means Rape, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Gangs,
cussing, blood, horrible things that SHOULD NOT happen to people, etcâ& euro;¦) and that
means this story ;is not for young ones! I can't stress&n bsp;that enough and I sure don't want a& nbsp;
lawsuit. The content hasn't changed eith er. It may seem overly harsh and if ;it is, well, why
the hell are you& nbsp;still reading? I apologize for it taking so long. Life just happens.
Word coding: 'Thoughts' , "Speaking", Ra ndom flashbacks or other stuff, Everything&nbs p;else
:THERE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A&nbs p;LINE BREAK HERE:
ISOLATION
Sora& nbsp;ignored Marluxia's grunts and protests as&nbs p;the small brunette shoved both Marluxia and
Larxene into his closet and gave t hem a dirty look. Larxene simply rolled her eyes and stared at
her kunai in feigned wonder while Marluxia tried not ;to press up against her; he liked havin g
body parts. Meanwhile, Sora had perche d himself on the couch right as Leon&nbs p;walked in looking
tired and resolute. Sora waved, his demeanor nonchalant, before s tanding and stretching. Leon
watched him ;as Sora began to make his way towards&n bsp;his bedroom.
"Hey."
"Hey," Sora repl ied with boredom in his voice. "I'm goin g to bed."
"Did you already eat?" < br> Sora nodded. "Yeah, there's pizza in the& nbsp;oven. See ya tomorrow."
"Wait," Leon&nbs p;called out as he set his bags on the floor. The young brunette paused by the
hallway entrance, his eyebrows raised&nbs p;in wait. "Was there anyone here just n ow? I thought I
heard voices."
"Nop e, just me, myself and I as usual. Well, plus the television." When Leon said&nb sp;nothing more
Sora saluted him in a&nb sp;mocking manner. "Goodnight, sir. I will re port at 0700 tomorrow
morning."
Leon&nbs p;ignored Sora's sarcasm as he heard the ;teen's bedroom door slam. Sighing, Leon fell back
against the cheap couch cushions,& nbsp;his head hurting and back aching. It&nbs p;was another boring day at
work, as&nbs p;was usual for him. He hadn't been to&n bsp;the dojo in ages and he wondered if& nbsp;his students
even cared about going ;anymore. He hadn't exactly asked Cloud to&nb sp;fill in for him and he had
heard —interestingly enough—about ;Cloud's new assignment. He hadn't been out&n bsp;in a long time;
he wanted to&nb sp;go out and have some downtime. He des perately needed to unwind and he would < br> have gladly liked Cloud, Yuffie and Yuna& nbsp;to accompany him. 'Yes…but I haven't talked to them
in weeks n ow...' he mused as he listened to So ra rummage around in his room, trying to be
inconspicuous but not succeeding, no t by a long shot. He was tired and& nbsp;wanted nothing more,
now, than to g o to sleep. He was just about to le an over when his phone buzzed. He took&n bsp;a quick
look at the caller ID, made a sour face before he flipped it&nb sp;open.
"Hello Mom."
"Hi honey. How&nbs p;is he doing? Is he asleep yet? How&nbs p;have his grades been this semester?"
L eon soured even more. "Yes. He just went to bed. His grades are stellar, as ;usual. All A's and
B's. When are y ou and dad coming home?"
The voice on the other end was cheery and light,&n bsp;but Leon sensed fakeness leaking through. ;"I'm
not sure. We'll be home for w hatever holiday is next. Did you two nee d anything? I hope you
realize that ;I will send you whatever I can. Sora's& nbsp;tuition will not be cheap. Oh Leon, ;saving for
his college is killing your& nbsp;father and I. Has he been behaving?"&nbs p;
"No mother, we're great, thanks. He's been wonderful. But you…I really&nb sp;have to go. Work." His
teeth felt&nbs p;like they were going to break as he&nb sp;ground the words out.
"Oh, alright th en. Send our love. Goodnight."
"Goodnight&nbs p;mother," he replied quietly. The beep at&nb sp;the other end signaled the end of her call
and Leon threw the phone at&n bsp;the wall. It cracked into many pieces&nbs p;and he cursed his bad luck.
"Shit&acir c;€¦now I'm going to need to buy& nbsp;a new one. Fuck…" He sunk into the couch cushions,
annoyed at&nbs p;how uncomfortable they were. He was trying& nbsp;his best to provide a better life f or Sora
but they just didn't have t he money. 'Correction…our dad is a jackass and is hording all the < br> money. And mom puts in money when sh e can…but who are we kidding.& nbsp;Unless Sora gets
straight A's and a scholarship…he isn't going to ;college.' Leon felt awful lying to Sora& nbsp;about
why they lived the way they&n bsp;did. But he couldn't tell his brother,&nb sp;his LITTLE brother, the truth.
Sora w as no idiot but he still didn't want&nbs p;Sora to worry about anything. So he li ed to him, every
day. He told him&n bsp;their father and mother loved him; but&nb sp;that they were having financial
problems.& nbsp;He hoped that, even now, Sora hadn't&nbs p;figured it out but he had the distinct feeling that
his brother knew everythin g. He was just drifting into sleep when& nbsp;he heard sniffling from the
hallway.&nbs p;'I think by now…I've damned&nb sp;us both.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sora l et out a small sniffle as he turned ;back to the closet. He knew Leon had&nb sp;been lying, for
years. Suppressing the&nbs p;tears, Sora reached for the closet doorknob . 'Now isn't the time for my
proble ms.' He sniffled again. "You guys can co me out now but you have to be quiet or else my
brother will come in&nb sp;here, got it?"
Larxene huffed as ;she shoved Marluxia out of the closet w here he'd been pressed against her so tight she thought she'd suffocate. Luckily ;for him he managed to stumble out, than ks to her
powerful shove, but still ;land quietly and gracefully on his feet.&nbs p;Sighing in relief at the lack of
noise Sora motioned for them to sit on&n bsp;his bed while he perched himself at his desk, which
lacked a computer or&nbs p;any décor aside from a pencil, ;a pen and a desk lamp. Marluxia
im mediately noted the lack of décor&nbs p;and raised a brow to which Sora gave&n bsp;him an angry stare.
Unfazed by the&n bsp;whole silent interlude, Larxene leaned against Sora's lone pillow and began
polishing& nbsp;her knives again as if there was no one else in the room. When nothing ;was said Sora
finally let out an e longated sigh.
"Hey, are you gonna spill or what man?" He blinked expectantly as Marluxia.
"Listen, Sora…" Mar luxia trailed off when he realized Larxene&nb sp;had paused and was staring at
him&nbs p;too. He threw her a death glare. "Woul d you care not to listen Miss Larxene?"& nbsp;
"The hell I won't," she snapped. "I f he's gonna know then I deserve to ;know."
"What's going on you two?" The&n bsp;younger brunette seemed frustrated by their&nb sp;conversation,
which hadn't even started. " Look, I have school tomorrow and unless you're gonna spill about all
this, then& nbsp;I am just gonna go to bed and stick both of you back in the closet."&n bsp;
Larxene jumped at this, her knife pr essed firmly against Marluxia's neck. He didn 't seem fazed
by this as he nodded& nbsp;calmly at Sora's comment. "Spill pretty boy or I will."
"If you would be&nb sp;so kind to remove your temperamental blade Miss Larxene," he whispered.
"Then I&nb sp;would be more than happy to oblige yo u." She slowly removed the knife from hi s throat
and settled back against the&nb sp;pillow as Marluxia cleared his throat. "Wh ere would you like me to
start?" Hi s posture changed suddenly and his shoulders& nbsp;sagged ever so slightly in the dim
lighting of the room. Larxene did a ;double-take. "I suppose…you'll want&nbs p;to hear why I looked at
you that& nbsp;way the day we met?" Sora nodded an d Larxene smirked. "You…reminded me of him.
You look like what he ;would look like if he were here today&a circ;€¦if he were around. When I say
that…" He trailed off ;again and both Sora and Larxene stared at him intently. "I do not wish to
further discuss said matter. However, I will tell you the reason why I have ;come here and not
gone anywhere else.&n bsp;There is…something of a secret& nbsp;being hidden in a place that I do&n bsp;not have
access to at the moment.&nb sp;I heard that your brother has the acc ess I need, that we need."
"What pl ace could my brother possibly have access&nbs p;to that could help you?" Sora's inquiry&nbs p;made
Larxene tense and she suddenly lo oked off to the side, which caused Sora& nbsp;to narrow his eyes.
"Hey, what the& nbsp;hell is going on here Larxene? What ;are YOU even doing here, and with HIM?& nbsp;I
thought you hated him?"
"I d o," she snapped to which Marluxia growled&nbs p;uncharacteristically but Larxene didn't appear < br> phased. "Look…whatever he is tr ying to access…I need too. And I know, for a damn fact, that
Leon has access to the place and the&nb sp;information."
"Which is…?" Sora ventured and Larxene sighed, her eyebrow s knitting together. "Wait…does
this have anything to do with Namine a nd the whole…incident?"
"I nee d your brother's pass code to his comput er and his ID card to KH International&n bsp;offices. And
I know you know where&n bsp;they are Leonhart…so retrieve t hem or I will get them myself." She ;
raised her knives to glint in the dim lighting. "And I'll use whatever force&nb sp;necessary."
Sora blanched and Marluxia sig hed at how tactful Larxene was in that&n bsp;moment. He didn't doubt
that she was intelligent but right now she wasn't sc oring any points with him. And Sora look ed
like he was about to have an&nbs p;aneurism. She doubted it was a serious ;issue but she decided that
they were&nb sp;past parading around the issue like Marlux ia seemed to think. Instead of being pha sed
by the many irritated looks the ;brunette was throwing in her direction she&n bsp;charged right past him
and cornered Sora against his desk. The younger brunette&n bsp;gulped in genuine shock and
nervousness&n bsp;as Larxene's antennae twitched madly, her ;ice blue eyes boring into his and her&n bsp;lips
set in a smirk he'd never seen before. It looked vaguely like a sn arl, or like something resembling
a fera l grin. He heard the clank of her k nives against his metal desk and felt sw eat bead at his
forehead in anxiety ;about his brother hearing them. For his ;part, Marluxia was staring at his nails ;
like a disinterested girlfriend, rolling his eyes as Larxene's smirk grew in diamete r.
"Hehe…" Her chuckle sounded menacing and she couldn't help but let& nbsp;it out. "Sora, you know
how much&nb sp;I would hate to take your precious li fe away from Namine…you two be ing friends
and all…and poor&n bsp;Kairi…so how about you help&nbs p;us? I will take your help by force&nbs p;or I will just
cut you—"
"That's enough."
Larxene growled as&nbs p;she felt Marluxia's glare on her back. ;Narrowing her eyes she raised her
brows . "What did you say?"
"I said that' s enough. You're acting like a child you crazy witch. Do you really think we&nbs p;are
going to get his help with yo u threatening him like this?" Marluxia stood& nbsp;and grabbed her wrist.
She whirled around to face him, her knives headed fo r his throat; but Marluxia had had quite
enough practice and encounters to know& nbsp;what she was going to do. He deftly grabbed her hand
as it came toward s him and glared at her. "Listen, maybe& nbsp;you should have just asked him. What's&n bsp;
your problem? Do you always resort t o violence when someone doesn't do what you want? If
you get him in trouble he won't be able to help us at&nbs p;all."
Larxene's eyes twitched as she f elt her anger building. 'Who the hell ;does he think he is?' She
smirked&n bsp;at him though she knew it appeared b itter. "It's a dog-eat dog-world out there.&n bsp;Don't tell
me you don't agree girly& nbsp;man?"
"I do, but sometimes you can' t always do that. That's not the way&nbs p;the whole world works, let
alone peopl e you call your friends." Marluxia's gaze&nbs p;softened as her eyes drifted to the si de. He
turned to Sora. "Listen Sora,&nbs p;we are going to need those codes soon& nbsp;so if you can get them, it
wou ld be greatly appreciated."
The young&nb sp;boy nodded and he pointed towards his ;bed. "It's not much…but one o f you can use it
tonight. I can&nbs p;sleep on the couch or the floor. And&n bsp;I'll work on the access codes." He g lanced
from Marluxia to Larxene and noti ced how the blonde had pulled into herse lf again. While he
was used to her& nbsp;mood swings from word of mouthâ€&r dquo;mainly Roxas and Namine—he had& nbsp;yet to
actually experience anything like it. Feeling like an intruder he began&n bsp;to back away. "Um…I'm
gonn a go to the kitchen to get a drink. You guys want anything?"
"Water would&n bsp;be great, thanks," Marluxia replied tiredly,&n bsp;Larxene's wrists still in his grip though
she'd become increasingly quiet and wit hdrawn. He sighed as Sora closed the doo r behind him
before refocusing his atten tion on the blonde haired nymph before h im. She was oddly quiet and
still, which worried him more than her attacking&nbs p;him. "Hey, witch…what's wrong?" < br> "Stop it."
He felt his eyes widen&nb sp;at how quiet her voice was and how&nb sp;her wrists suddenly began to tremble.
"What?"
"You don't understand anything. You& nbsp;don't know anything about me, or what's& nbsp;happened in this
place; therefore you&nb sp;don't understand why I do what I do.& nbsp;And I have the right mind to stab&n bsp;you
and rip you into a millions ;pieces right now flower boy." Larxene looked up at him, her eyes
glistening but narrowed in anger at the man before&nbs p;her. "You think you can come in here&n bsp;and fix
everything? You're a fool. A fter tonight you're damn near lucky you're&nb sp;alive."
He sighed again. "What's with ;you? If you keep saying I don't underst and then why don't you
explain? I'm ;more than willing to listen because somehow& nbsp;I get this strange feeling this isn't&nb sp;quite
as insignificant an issue as yo u're all making it sound." He released h er wrists and watched with
no surprise&n bsp;as she went to the bed and curled&nb sp;into herself at its corner. He joined ;her though he
sat a few feet away. "I have things in my life that I&n bsp;don't share and don't intend toâ€&r dquo;especially not
with the likes of so meone like you. But that doesn't take aw ay from the issue of your sister and&nbs p;
what's been going on, the weird things in this town. And tonight, what was&nbs p;that all about? How
about you start&nb sp;telling me some things?"
She chuckled ;bitterly. "Why? You're no friend. Why should I trust you?"
"You don't have to," he responded tiredly. "But you owe it&n bsp;to your sister, and yourself, to fix ;
some things. Why not take help where&nb sp;you can get it? It's not everyday you meet someone who is
willing to ris k his or her own life to help you&n bsp;take down a billion dollar industry or&nb sp;tycoon, is it?"
While Larxene had to& nbsp;admit that was very true she'd rather&nb sp;die before she let him know they were
in agreement. Sighing, she leaned her&n bsp;head against the cool wall as she aw aited Sora's return for
a much needed&nb sp;glass of water. She felt like she was going to need it if she explained what she
deemed as pointless to the ;situation. "It started more than a few years ago…when Namine and
I&ac irc;€¦when our parents were alive." Ma rluxia stared at her intently and she sn ickered. "Yes, they're
dead, though I'm sure Axel and Roxas did NOT neglect to&n bsp;tell you…oh, poor me, right?"&n bsp;When
he said nothing she continued, her eyes glazing over as she was lost&nb sp;in her memories. "I was
about fi fteen then…my parents had struggled for years to rise above the income ;level we were
at…not poor,&nb sp;but not, by any means, rich or wealth y. There was a change in our situation&a circ;€¦and I
have only one man&nb sp;to "thank" for all his generosity." At&nbs p;this her voice turned bitter. That
eve ning…everything was going to change …"
Marluxia took notice of&nbs p;how much her demeanor had changed and in preparation for her speech
he leaned& nbsp;back in the chair at Sora's desk. T he boy had yet to return and he had the feeling that
the talk of water was all a ploy to avoid being in&n bsp;the room with Larxene. And for some strange
reason as Marluxia looked at her he understood why the boy felt that&nbs p;way. She felt tears burning
at her&nbs p;eyelids again and she fought hard to k eep them at bay though she'd completely forgotten
where she was and who she ;was with in Sora's room as the memories overwhelmed her.
Cora and Phillip we re engaged in a seemingly heated discussion&n bsp;about the cook when Larxene
finally slipped off into her bedroom. Namine had ;excused herself much earlier on during their
dinner and Larxene was simply glad ;she'd managed to slip off in time to&nb sp;avoid her mother, father
and Mr. Sumi tse. Once in the comfort of her own ;room she began to undress for the eveni ng,
going about her nightly routine as&n bsp;she always did. But something in the ;pit of her stomach didn't
feel right&nb sp;and she suddenly felt a swell of butt erflies knotting there. She heard a terrible& nbsp;ruckus
outside and then the sudden slamming of a door, which caused her to& nbsp;look out her window in
curiosity. S he was sure Namine was doing the same&nb sp;and her eyes widened in wonder as she saw
Mr. Sumitse leave; shortly after&nb sp;Cora and Phillip pulled out in their town car, minus their
customary chauffeur.&nb sp;Curiosity got the best of her and she journeyed downstairs towards the
kitchen&nbs p;where she saw Luxord, their longtime cook,& nbsp;packing his cooking utensils.
"Luxord, where are you going?"
The man&nb sp;looked up at her, green eyes tired as he hurried. "Excuse me young miss, but& nbsp;the lady of
the house, Mrs. Cora,&n bsp;has fired me."
Outraged, Larxene c ould only stare. "…what?"
He sighed. "My time is up; I apologiz e young Miss Larxene. Please, apologize to&nb sp;young Miss
Namine for me as well."
"But Luxord, father loves your roas ted Quail! He would never fire you!" Her protests seemed to
fall on deaf ea rs as he kept packing. "Wait, Luxord, yo u can't leave!"
"But I must," he& nbsp;replied solemnly. "I must leave in ten&n bsp;minutes according to your mother."
"< i>Fuck my mother!" This language appeared to& nbsp;have no affect on the cook and Larx ene figured it
was because he was s elf-absorbed at that moment. "Luxord, wait! M y mother and father just left!
You can stay a little longer, can't you? At& nbsp;least until I can help clear this u p?"
He gave her a smile as h e reached into his bag before tossing he r a card, the front which was
embos sed with his name and the other side&nbs p;embossed as well, except there was a l arge Ace on it,
much like th e Ace of spades in a card deck. "Li sten Miss Larxene, should your father ever&nb sp;wish
for me to return, or should ;you ever need anything, please, feel free&nb sp;to contact me. I bid you
goodnight&nb sp;young Misses."
Larxene could only w atch in anger and sadness as Luxord exit ed the large wooden doors, his
head ;not even visible for more than a second through the clear glass windows. She wa s about to
rush after him when she& nbsp;heard footsteps. She whirled around to s ee Namine halfway down the
staircase. Th e young blonde haired girl was giving he r a questioning look though she seemed < br> overly drowsy and Larxene gave her a ;look-over. "Larxene, what was all that commo tion?
Where is Luxord? Has he retired&nb sp;for the night?" The young girl yawned.
"More like forever," she spat as&nbs p;she stood glued to her spot. "Namineâ €¦it's bedtime. We have
school ea rly tomorrow. I'll be up in a minute&nbs p;ok? I'm just going to go call mom ;and dad, all
right?" Namine nodded her& nbsp;consent and seconds later she had disapp eared into her room, the
click signaling she was safe. Sighing, Larxene racked h er brain for a reason as to why Cor a
would have fired their cook of 5& nbsp;years. It seemed odd. She reached for&nb sp;the house phone, holding
it in her&nb sp;hand for mere moments when she heard the door in the front room open. Thinkin g it was
her parents she rushed out to give her mother a piece of her& nbsp;mind but was horrified to Mr.
Sumit se standing there, his eyes staring straight& nbsp;at her. Nervous, she backed away with&nb sp;the full
awareness of her state of&nb sp;dress. He seemed to notice it as well as his eyes swept over her body, < br> his gaze lingering far longer than she&nb sp;liked. Gathering her confidence and her be st nonchalant
but polite face she addres sed him.
"Good evening again Mr. Sumitse. What brings your return to the Isuki household? Did you
forget your coa t?" She knew this was a stupid question& nbsp;in itself because he was definitely
wearing his coat; but she refused to le t him see her uncertainty. "Can I help&n bsp;you with
something?"
His eyes ;were unreadable as he approached her. "Hm&ac irc;€¦yes, indeed—perhaps you ;can, Miss
Larxene. You see…I& nbsp;returned to have a "chat" with your ;mother. Is she still awake?"
"My ;mother has stepped out for a moment. Bu t if you'd like, I can call our coo k, Mr. Luxord and
he can assist you out. It's very late and we should be getting ready for bed. I have school& nbsp;
tomorrow. Surely you understand Mr. Sumi tse?" Larxene stared back at him though he had
continued approaching her until h e was right before her. When he made&nbs p;no move to take her
offer, she na rrowed her eyes. "Mr. Sumitse, I must in sist that you leave or I will have to call Mr.
Luxord here to escort y ou out. Our mother is not here. There&nb sp;is nothing further I can do for you."
"Oh, but I think there is. And as for your Mr. Luxord…"&n bsp;Mr. Sumitse let out a chuckle. "I do n't
think he'll be assisting you. He&nbs p;is gone and won't be coming back." ;
Larxene shivered. "I don't…unde rstand. What do you want? My mother isn' t here!" She
whispered harshly so as&nbs p;to not awaken Namine. She didn't know how much time had passed but
the wa y he was leering at her caused her to lash out. She quickly threw the phone at him and
made a mad dash fo r the living room area where the TV ;was still blaring the evening news. She ;
paid little attention to it as&n bsp;she grabbed for the other cordless locate d there. She was fumbling
with it a s she heard his footsteps approaching slowly& nbsp;but firmly, determined—and she freaked
and dropped the phone. Scrambling&nbs p;for it, she was punching in the number s 911 when she
noticed him standing ;by the TV, watching it intently. She li fted her gaze and tuned in, finally, to& nbsp;
what was actually being said, and h er face faltered. "Mother…fatherâ& euro;¦" the picture before her
showed& nbsp;a clear view of a white towns car&n bsp;crashed into the rocks below, smashed bey ond repair.
The people inside had been&n bsp;declared dead on sight though no names&nb sp;had been released.
Dropping the phone,&nbs p;Larxene fell to her knees as tears wel led up in her eyes. "No…no&aci rc;€¦this isn't
happening…"< /i>
"Ah…but it is, Miss&nbs p;Larxene." Her blood ran cold at his tr emulous, slightly exhilarated tone. She
glanc ed up at him and found his golden e yes gazing back at her, still unreadable.&nbs p;She was so
numb at the revelation ;that she didn't have time to react as&n bsp;he stooped down to her, his strong < br> hand grabbing her chin and holding it&nbs p;still. Her blue eyes held fire and hat red as they looked at
each other an d he simply chuckled. She felt sick as&n bsp;he continued and she began to struggle;&n bsp;he
squashed her effort quickly, his hands landing on her wrists and binding them behind her back
as he flipped her squirming form around until her back ;was flush against his chest. "Your mother&nb sp;
never understood your intelligence, and yo ur father never appreciated your devotion. An d it's a
shame all those stupid, ch ildish boys do not see the beauty I ;see in you Larxene."
She shivered&nbs p;in fear and disgust as she felt one&nb sp;of his hands slide down her side unti l it rested on
her thigh. "But I&nb sp;see it Larxene. And I intend to have& nbsp;it all. With your mother and father ;
gone…you are truly mine." ;
"I will report you, you sick son&nbs p;of a bitch. I will take Namine and&nbs p;me so far from here—"
She was cutoff mid-sentence by the low,& nbsp;seductive chuckle in her ear. "I suppose I should have
told you soonerâ&eu ro;¦" she felt sick when his tongue&nb sp;snaked out and licked her earlobe. "Cora&n bsp;signed
all her assets and possessions&nbs p;over to me a month ago. So you se e…all guardianship rights
belong&nb sp;to me. You and Namine are mine, thoug h I care not for that fragile creature.& nbsp;You are
mine, Larxene."
Larxene&n bsp;could not believe what she was hearing.&n bsp;'Cora…that stupid bitch! Selfish&nbs p;whore!' Her
mind was screaming, hating ;her mother even in her death and not&nb sp;believing it at the same time.
Tears& nbsp;began to fall from her icy blue eye s as she gathered all her strength and&n bsp;began struggling
madly against his grip.& nbsp;She was about to scream when the ha nd that rested on her thigh quickly
silenced her. She fought violently but he&nb sp;was far too strong for her and she&nb sp;felt herself growing
tired, not sure how much time had passed and how long&nb sp;he'd held her in his vice-like grip. Just
when she thought she was finished&n bsp;he let her go and she stumbled forwa rd on the carpet. "Go
Larxene, Run. ;I do so enjoy a chase."
Even&nbs p;in her weakened state she glared at hi m. "I'm going to get Namine! Stay away&n bsp;from me you
bastard! I already diale d 911!"
"Namine is sleeping sound ly. She will not hear you or anything&nb sp;else for that matter. She was,
after& nbsp;all, quite tired, was she not?"
Larxene's eyes widened. "You…you&nbs p;drugged her?!"
"I simply helped her& nbsp;sleep," was his reply.
Marluxia watc hed with renewed interest a Larxene's sentenc e trailed off and she was quiet once&nbs p;
again. When she didn't say anything mo re he reached out to touch her; she ;twitched and dove for
him, her knives&n bsp;drawn again. He reacted quickly, deftly g rabbing her flailing arms and
intercepting&nb sp;her as she drove her knives towards h is neck. She let out a small cry wh en she came
to, realizing where she ;was and who she was with in the sm all room. She stuttered,
uncharacteristically,&nbs p;and Marluxia gave her a bored, blank s tare.
"Hey…are you feeling bet ter?" He was still holding her wrists. < br> She looked frightened and angry all toget her. "What…what the hell are y ou talking about?"
He sighed. "You never got past the part where this Mr. S umitse character came over for dinner
an d how he gave you the creeps. I'm a ssuming he is the man we met tonight?"&n bsp;When she nodded
he pressed further. "And he is the man who is responsible&nb sp;for…everything, I take it?"
She nodded again though this time she p ut her head down, her eyes burning thoug h she wouldn't
let him see. "So now you know…enough…to know why things are so tense, why I ;hate him so
much…"
"He&n bsp;can only hurt Namine if you let him, " he whispered quietly to her though he& nbsp;wasn't sure she
heard. "Listen, I d on't think Sora's coming back with that water. You can have the bed. I think&nbs p;I
need to go out and take care&nb sp;of some stuff with Demyx."
Defiantly, ;she stood and grabbed his arm, which ca used him to raise a brow at her eve n though
he remained more docile than&nb sp;she ever could. "I'm coming with you."&nbs p;
"Why?"
She paused, not sure why s he was so determined to follow him to&nb sp;Demyx's. It seemed like it was
a ;personal issue between the two but at t he moment, Larxene wasn't sure she wanted&nbs p;to be in
Sora's house, especially with Leon in the next room. "It doesn't ;matter. I'm coming with you, and
that's final."
He shrugged and began towards&n bsp;Sora's window to climb out, his efforts&n bsp;strained to stay as silent
as possib le. "Suit yourself. I'm not sure what yo u're going to get out of this, but if you must, then
I won't stop you. "
Her eyes glanced at him as h e worked and her fingers twiddled nervously&n bsp;as long as he couldn't
seeâ€&r dquo;she was still uncomfortable and uncertain.&nb sp;Marluxia rolled his eyes as he watched&nbs p;her head
towards the window, her expre ssion solemn as she seemed to observe it . He wanted to ask what
she was&nbs p;doing but she suddenly jumped up on th e sill and was outside not a moment ;later. He
followed suit and was surpris ed to find that she was almost out of the thin alleyway that
separated Sora 's house from all the other project look ing housing that lined the block. He qui ckly
swept past her only to feel he r slender hand catch his arm. He turned& nbsp;to face her and Larxene
smirked as& nbsp;she shook her finger at him.
"What? "
"You can't go to Demyx's house wi thout a bribe. We should stop by the&nbs p;local candy store first."
She began wa lking in the direction of sweet smelling ;aromas.
He gave her a curious stare&nbs p;as he walked behind her. He'd known De myx for years and had never
once ne eded a bribe, but maybe, just maybe, he& nbsp;thought, he didn't know him so well ;anymore.
Sighing, he caught up with her in hopes to better understand her appro ach towards his spineless
friend even th ough Demyx seemed to have suddenly grown ;a spine at their last encounter. Once < br> they'd picked up the candy they began&nbs p;walking over the bridge of Traverse Town&nb sp;towards the
familiar, well lit, warm and welcoming streets of Twilight Town. Peopl e were still out as it was
relative ly light outside still. The street lamps ;had just been turned on and both Marlux ia and
Larxene could see couples strolli ng about engrossed in romantic activities. He scowled. Larxene
looked down. It had&nb sp;never been something she was particularly fond of, and Marluxia had been
al b ut interested in flighty, airhead girls. They were mere feet away from Demyx's house& nbsp;when
they spotted him perched on hi s porch with some Twinkies. Zexion was b y his side, silent and
solitary as he peered at them from behind his lavend er locks with nonchalance.
Marluxia didn't&nb sp;beat around the bush as Demyx lead th em inside his quaint house without as much as a hello. He knew what his&nbs p;friend was there for; no questions were&nbs p;necessary. "I'm not
going to tell you. "
"Demyx, I know that you were asso ciated with him. Xigbar told me as much, " Marluxia pressed.
Larxene looked murderous& nbsp;in the corner. "I need you to tell& nbsp;me everything you know."
The young musician cowered. "Mar…I can'tâ&eu ro;¦"
Graceful as his name and tr ademark, Marluxia had his friend against a&nb sp;wall, the rusted key
digging into his neck. "Demyx…"
"Okâ€&br vbar;but I warned you." He settled down against the chase as Marluxia fell back into his own
chair while Larxene stood&n bsp;behind it, arms crossed over her bosom.&n bsp;"When…we were young, my
da d…he used to work for a v ery powerful man…a man in the& acirc;€¦pharmaceutical industry." He
could& nbsp;see Larxene bristle and Marluxia's face turning ashen. "He was testing a new dru g on
children so…he threw ;me to the dogs. He had me make fri ends so he could test them, this man,&nb sp;
this…friend of my father's. ;But when things got bad…my fa ther was killed. Mar…you dad,
Lionel…was paid a large s um of money to bring you backâ€&br vbar;to him. They made me be your
f riends but it didn't go to plan. We ;really became friends…it was me&ac irc;€¦my fault. They found my
let ters…the ones I sent you, the& nbsp;money I sent for you, Jacob, and De laney. He found
you…because I& nbsp;asked Delaney for your address… ;I'm so sorry Mar…"
Marluxia's knuckles were white as e gripped the&nb sp;armrests. Larxene raised her eyebrows as h e
kunai slipped from between her fingers . "You…but…Jacob is dead."
"No, I loved Jacob like a li ttle brother! Mar, please, I—"
"Shut up." His voice was like a tho usand steel hooks that stabbed Demyx in the heart. Without
another word he snatc hed the key and was out the door. " Larxene."
She nodded silently, disappearing i nto the orange hued sky as Demyx's cries drifted after them.
There was a st rained, tense silence that settled over them, thick and hot but cold and weary. They
were headed nowhere and Larxene won dered where the flower boy was going. He seemed so out
of it. Larxene had&n bsp;to wonder. It made her antsy.
"Hey,& nbsp;flower boy." No answer. "Hello?"
He ;spun around to face her, eyes ablaze. S he actually did a double take as his&nbs p;burning sapphire
eyes pinned her to he r spot. "W-H-A-T?" When she didn't answer&aci rc;€”too stunned, it seemed—he
whirled back around, muttering obscenities&n bsp;under his breath. "What is it witch?"&nbs p;
"Stop calling me that! Why did you&nbs p;ask me to follow you?"
He sighed. ;"I don't know." He really didn't. "I ju st don't."
She scowled as his demeanor&n bsp;turned slightly crest-fallen. She couldn't dea l with sadness. It
wasn't her area. ;"Follow me girly man." She began to pul l him.
"Where are we going?" He que stioned.
She didn't answer but took him& nbsp;to the only place she knew made her feel better. 'Sunset Hill.' The
sun&nbs p;was setting, the sky illuminated with all&n bsp;the colors of the rainbow, the view breathtaking.
Larxene stopped just behind the brick wall to gaze, her soul feeling&nb sp;light. It was the one place she
could let go of the façadeâ&eur o;”some of it anyway. Marluxia let out& nbsp;a small gasp at the sight before him. Its beauty was endless. He could ;see the ocean, deep blue, calm and sere ne as the sun set to
leave them&nbs p;in the famous Twilight Town. He was st ill drinking in the scenery when a famil iar
scent hit is nose. His appreciative& nbsp;gaze shifted to the nymph sitting down&n bsp;blowing smoke out of
her mouth. She& nbsp;blinked at him before offering him the&n bsp;small white object. He accepted it.
"I didn't think you smoked."
She ch uckled, already mellowing out from their tens ion filled past day. "You didn't exactly ;ask
me."
"You just don't seem the& nbsp;type."
Another chuckle. "And what, pray& nbsp;tell, type am I?"
Marluxia looked t houghtful as he inhaled deeply. "Should I&nbs p;really answer that?"
Her knives flashed&nbs p;in the now moonlit sky. "Hmm… ;at your own discretion. I can't guarantee&nb sp;
your safety."
"No thank you," he ;murmured as he took a seat semi-next to her. "What did you need from
Demyx ?"
Instead of tensing and lashing out&nb sp;like he had predicated she simply laid&nbs p;back, hand under her
head as she looked up at the twining starts in the&n bsp;sky. "You do remember our encounter with& nbsp;my
step-father?" Marluxia nodded. "I nev er finished my story. My step-fatherâ€& brvbar;he is the scumbag
responsible for ;so much of my misery…of so&nb sp;much misery all over. Yours too, apparentl y."
Marluxia nodded again. Another sigh. ;"Sorry for your loss." She chuckled. "What's so funny?"
"You're not what I expe cted flower boy." She laughed again. "I thought you might turn tail and
run ;after that interlude with my step-fatherâ&e uro;¦Demyx was right about you."
For&n bsp;some reason her comment bothered him but& nbsp;he let it go as she leaned over&nbs p;here, arms planted
on either side of&n bsp;her elbows. Once again, instead of lashin g out she simply smiled and opened
her once closed eyes. They stared at eac h other for a moment until she laughed&n bsp;again. "You're
eyes…they look&n bsp;like the night sky," she whispered as&nbs p;she raised a hand to his cheek, her&nb sp;
fingertips stopping as she brushed his&nbs p;skin. "SO much pain…so muchâ ;€¦"
He frowned as her smile ;vanished; replaced with her lips in a w eary, thin line. He shook his
head. ;"There's some in you too." She let out& nbsp;another peel of laughter as he hand ;fell to her
abdomen, her other moving&n bsp;to her eyes as he entire body heaved with the full extent of her
exerti on. Marluxia smirked. "Why aren't you like&nb sp;this more often?"
She stopped. "Why w ould you want everyone to know?"
He ;looked thoughtful again. "I want to know&nbs p;you."
Larxene shivered as he hands dri fted down, her elbows coming up to suppo rt her Their noses
were almost touching, their breath intermingling as she inhaled&nb sp;and exhaled nervously. "Why?"
"Becauseâ&e uro;¦you're the rare flower that I wan t in my garden."
Her breath hitched as one of his hands came up to&nbs p;cradle the back of her head, which was
swimming with pure confusion. His hand& nbsp;slid through her short hair as her eyes slid closed, the
feel of his f ingers comforting her hectic mind. It suddenl y felt hazy and her eyes began to d roop.
Sleepiness was beginning to overcome&nb sp;her as she felt his hands lifting her tired body to what he
deemed a&nbs p;comfortable position. She blinked one last time, his calm face coming into mild foc us
before she found sleep take her. ;Marluxia stared down at her slumbering form& nbsp;nestled between
his two legs. She h ad immediately curled up, her breathing even& nbsp;as he continued to run his
fingers& nbsp;through her hair. It was soft like he'd originally thought, as was her fair ;skin. Her
eyelashes fluttered we he tou ched them and Marluxia stopped. 'I can't&a circ;€”' He felt his eyes widen&nbs p;
at the realization. She was truly ench anting. And at that exact moment he want ed nothing more
than to kiss her, t he moon shining on her pale pink lips&nb sp;looking all the more inviting as the
minutes passed. He blanched as she sighe d, her fingers curling around his coat a nd a small smile
placed her lips. W ithout thinking he touched a finger to h is lips before gentle pressing it to her s.
The night sky sparkled with the stars, the only witnesses to their interlude. And he was
particularly glad for t his.
Back at home Namine was staring&nbs p;out the big window in the living room. Roxas and Axel had
gone out for&nb sp;the evening. They had invited Sora, Kairi& nbsp;and Riku over but none had shown up .
Kairi was home with her uncle, So ra was with Leon and she knew nothing&nb sp;of Riku's
whereabouts. She was still stargazing when there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Riku.&nbs p;Open up."
She stiffened. "Oh… ;just a minute." She slowly opened the d oor to reveal Riku standing there.
He&nb sp;had a sleeping bag, an overnight bag in the other, while a cigarette hung fro m his lips.
"Hi…umâ€&brv bar;it's just you tonight."
"Yeahâ€&brv bar;Kairi called me. I ran into Sora on& nbsp;the way here." He dumped his bags b y the staircase
and made his way to wards the kitchen. "How about Tea and a& nbsp;movie, Isuki?"
She gave him a withe ring look. "Listen, you don't have to sa y just because you feel bad."
He no dded. "I want to. So…pick out& nbsp;a movie."
"Fine." She marched over to the movies and, noisily, began to rif le through them. She settled on
a m ovie called Pride and Prejudice. Riku raised& nbsp;a brow at this but said nothing as& nbsp;they settled on
the couch, Namine a s far away from Riku as possible.
H e gave her a pointed stare. "Are you&nbs p;that scared of me Isuki?"
Horrified at being called out, she huffed. "I am&nbs p;not. But I don't actually know you tha t well."
He laughed. "Alright. Whatever. ;Play the movie."
The movie was hal fway through when she realized it was be ginning to resemble her life. She
ignore d Riku as she heard his light snored&nbs p;filter into her ears. Sighing, she flipped& nbsp;the TV off in
hopes to go upst airs to her room for well deserved sleep . She'd been having nightmares. She was
halfway up the stairs when she heard&nbs p;Riku call out to her. "What?" Her resp onse was forced and
curt.
"I said,& nbsp;why are you running off so soonâ&e uro;¦Namine?"
She froze. She hadn't re ally expected him to say anything to her , not when he was supposedly
sleeping.&n bsp;She turned to look at him, mortified ;to see him so close to her within just seconds.
"I…I don't know& nbsp;what you're talking about."
He gave ;her a small smile as he started to ;ascend the stairs, stopping just a few inches from her.
"Do you want to go for a walk in the backyard? It's a nice night."
Namine's eyes widened as&n bsp;she felt him take her hand, his skin warm but callus. She inhaled
sharply&nb sp;as he began to lead her down the ;staircase and into the backyard. The moon&nb sp;was bright,
the stars sparkling and t here was a slight warm breeze. Namine fe lt herself relax as she let him
lea d her towards the ancient, dried out fou ntain in the middle of all those ancient statues. She
took a seat as he&nbs p;released her hand and leaned against a ;statue. "So, Namine…it's just you& nbsp;and
me…what do you do&nbs p;for fun around here?"
"You asked me&nb sp;that already."
He sighed. "Okâ€&brvb ar;so…are you going to prom th is year or what?" She shook her head.&nb sp;He stared.
"No date?" She nodded. "Hm …well, I think the gang and&nb sp;I can help you with that."
"No," ;she spat. "I am perfectly capable of do ing that myself. Besides, the person I w as going to
ask is probably already ;taken."
"Oh?" He perked up. "Does Namin e Isuki have a crush?"
She felt her face fill with heat and she gasped.&nbs p;"You—you! Shut up!"
He chuckl ed at her blatant inability to form prop er sentences as a result of his comment. "It's ok
to have a crush, you ;know."
"I don't have a crush." She ;said, crossing her arms over her chest. ;
"So you're in love?" He lit another&nbs p;cigarette, inhaling quietly as Namine stared&nbs p;at him, her eyes
following the smoke&n bsp;that clouded the front of his face. "It's ok to be in love Namine. Why are
you so afraid of it?"
"I'm ;not afraid of being in love…I 'm afraid of the person I am in lov e with right now," she
replied quietly.& nbsp;
"Who is that? Is it ok to ;ask you that?" He questioned. He wasn't ;surprised when she shook her
head. "Hm& acirc;€¦that's too bad. You should tel l him before its too late."
Again, she shook her head. "No, I…I&n bsp;can't. It's complicated."
"Nothing's that ;complicated Isuki. Just be honest; you'll be fine if you just tell him. I'm sur e he
returns the feelings. You're a ;great girl. Give yourself some credit Isuki. "
She gave him a weak smile in ;response, not really sure what he was g etting at but not that
bothered. "Yes&ac irc;€¦ok…um…thanks ;Riku." The rest of the evening passed u neventfully with them
watching another movie, this one being Riku's pick. The Shining . Namine thought she'd faint at
all ;the blood in the movie, though there we ren't a lot of parts like that. However, there were
enough that she ended u p running to the bathroom once followed by profusely hiding herself
under the co vers. Riku's laughter didn't seem to help&nbs p;all that much ether but she dealt with it,
glad for the added company. By the end of the evening Namine found&nbs p;herself snuggled up to
Riku's side, so und asleep. For his part Riku too was&nb sp;asleep when Axel and Roxas entered the&nbs p;
quiet house. The pair stared at the&nb sp;spectacle the two had created on the couch, the TV's blue
screen blaring into the background.
"Should we take a picture?" Axel asked, camera at the ready.&nb sp;
Roxas thought. "Hm…yeah but ;make it quick. I don't think we should& nbsp;piss off Riku. And I don't
want&nbs p;to hurt Namine." Nodding, Axel snapped the& nbsp;picture. Luckily, neither seemed phased and&n bsp;
continued their peaceful slumber. Smiling,&nbs p;Axel and Roxas made their way upstairs ;to their own
room, quiet but laughing&n bsp;the whole time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The look Yuffie gave Tifa was far more ;apprehensive than the doctor anticipated and ;she
wondered, briefly, if the young nur se had been listening to late night radi o—or Aerith's
ramblings. Cloud was seated next to her sipping his coffe e as he read a report about sexual
assault with mild disinterest. Tifa had the urge to hit him over the head f or his stupidity and lack
of seriousness regarding the case; but she was too&nbs p;focused on Yuffie to waste time on Clo ud.
Across from her Yuffie was clutching the folder containing Larxene's information as though it
was going to disintegrate&n bsp;within her grasp. Tifa let out a sig h as the younger woman finally let go&nb sp;
of the manila folder and slid it ;across the table towards her superior.
"So…where is this from?"
"Trav erse Town Hospital. I recognized the last&nbs p;name Isuki and I…I just got& nbsp;a feeling so I opened
it and a ll the information was there. I remember ;that Axel kid saying something when they&nbs p;
brought Namine in here. Not to mention that the resemblance between the two is striking. All I
have to do to ;really prove it is to go back and subpoena the records from the Adoption Agency ,
and look up information regarding thei r parents will…ah…though& nbsp;I don't have the exact power
to&nbs p;do that," Yuffie managed in one breath.&nbs p;
Tifa poked Cloud's side and he al most dropped his coffee. "Hey, what gives?"&n bsp;
"I need you to go put in some&n bsp;subpoenas to the Local Adoption Agency an d subpoena all records
from this girl's& nbsp;parents—they should all be in&n bsp;Traverse Town." Tifa blinked thoughtfully. "Yo u
do have jurisdiction there, right?" "Well yeah…this is the FBI. ;I have jurisdiction pretty much anywhere," h e replied lamely.
"Well, then get the&nb sp;hell on it you bastard!" Tifa shouted ;and this time, he did drop his coffee&n bsp;and
all over the article at that.&nb sp;"You fucking klutz…" He shot&nbs p;her a completely dirty look to which < br> Tifa did a double take. "Cloudâ€&br vbar;I'm sorry…it's just thatâ&eur o;¦" She trailed off when he whirled&n bsp;
around, crushed his Styrofoam cup and&nbs p;tossed it in the nearest trash can. "C loud?"
"Fuck off Tifa. I don't know ;what the hell your problem has been the last six months, but take it
out&n bsp;on someone else. Fuck this. I'm out. ;I'll talk to you when I find something& nbsp;out." He gave her
one last venomous look before walking towards the door. " Goodnight Yuffs."
"Goodnight!" Yuffie shouted ;back with a semi-cheerful smile as Tifa ;slumped in her seat. The
young brunette turned towards her older peer and let&n bsp;out a low whistle. "Wow…Tifa&ac irc;€¦you gotta
really work on th is broken heart thing. Cloud has moved o n and so should you."
"What do you& nbsp;know?" Tifa hissed as she gave Yuffie&nb sp;a death glare. The younger girl simply&nbs p;
chuckled as she went back to shuffling through papers. Tifa scowled. "Whatever. I&n bsp;know…I
know, ok? But every time I see him…I just ge t so angry…I'm sorry… ;"
"Don't apologize to me," Yuffie repli ed. "I'm not the one who you're yelling& nbsp;at 24/7. I'm not the
one with the broken heart raining on everyone else's&n bsp;parade."
"I do not have a broken&nbs p;heart," Tifa answered in annoyance as she&n bsp;swatted at Yuffie with her
stack of& nbsp;medical papers. She knew that it was&nbs p;the ultimate lie to say this but she&n bsp;wasn't about to
admit that to anyone . Aerith had, though unknowingly, taken her&n bsp;heart when she and cloud has
started dating. After they dated it turned seri ous and the next thing Tifa knew, they&n bsp;were
together—it'd been two ;years since then. They'd been happy and ;she'd been lonely, sad, angry, a
whole& nbsp;kaleidoscope of emotions. Yuffie appeared to& nbsp;be the only one who noticed which s he was
eternally grateful for now. Her&n bsp;head hurt as she watched her younger ;friend shuffle through files
and pictures,&n bsp;etc. The younger woman was so absorbed&nb sp;she didn't even notice Tifa staring at&nbs p;her.
This is how Tifa knew Yuffie ;was very involved in their current case.&nbs p;Yet another fact she was
grateful for& nbsp;seeing as to she could continue her ;charade without too much interference from a ny
outside party. Her own conscience was quite enough to last her a lifetime.&nb sp;
"Hey Tifa, I think I found something, " Yuffie chirped.
Tifa reached for her&n bsp;steaming coffee before turning her attention&n bsp;to Yuffie. "Yes? What did you
find?"
"Larxene's file, it's full of sexu al assault kits that were never completed.&nb sp;It looks like she ran
away at se venteen too. She's suffered from numerous bru ises, broken bones, trauma…she was& nbsp;
seeing a counselor—but she ;had very little success."
"Hm… ;" Tifa scoured through the paperwork. "Huh?& nbsp;What's this? I don't believe itâ€& brvbar;"
"What?" Yuffie tried to see wha t her friend was gawking at. "What is&nb sp;it?"
"Yuffie…were you ever around when we had a Dr. Vexen here?"&nb sp;
"Um…no. Not that I can ;recall. Why?" Yuffie looked at her calendar& nbsp;just as Tifa jolted from her
spot,& nbsp;grabbing frantically for her bags and he r coffee. Puzzled, Yuffie darted after her,&n bsp;barely
missing the door to her face& nbsp;as Tifa took long strides towards the&nb sp;elevator. "Tifa, hey! What's
going on?&nbs p;Are we going somewhere?"
Inside the el evator, Tifa frowned. "Yes…we're go ing to see Attorney Kosaka."
"But it's&n bsp;midnight!" Yuffie shrieked as they stepped&nbs p;out of the elevator towards the parking&nbs p;lot.
Tifa unlocked her car, the beepin g of the car alarm alerting Yuffie to&nb sp;the slick, silver BMW
parked in the&n bsp;back of the garage. "Are you nuts? H e is going to flip. It's late Tifa!"&nbs p;
"If he is dedicated to this case, ;then he isn't going to care about time& nbsp;restraints," Tifa said as she
slammed&nb sp;on the gas pedal, the tires squealing ;as she zoomed out of the garage. Yuffie fumbled
for her seatbelt as she re ached for the upper handle above the car window. She was scared and
Tifa kn ew it. "Look, Yuffie, this is really imp ortant. Dr. Vexen is…he's just ;not a very good
doctor. He is a&nb sp;deceptive rat. And I know, for a fact …there is something fishy going&nbs p;on here."
Yuffie could only nod as&nbs p;they pulled into the driveway of Mr. K osaka's expensive house where
the lights ;in the living room were still on, and&n bsp;the TV was blaring. Tifa blinked. "Is&nbs p;he still up?"
She and Yuffie were ;out of the car in minutes and at t he door within seconds. She raised her < br> hand to knock when the door swung op en. "Oh..."
"Good evening Dr. Lockhart. I've been expecting you." Sephiroth gave her& nbsp;a tepid smile. "You're
visit can on ly mean one thing, I imagine?"
She agreed, her face anything but hopeful. "Yes&a circ;€¦it does. We really need to ;talk."
"Come in." Sephiroth closed the door behind them. Inside he turned to Ti fa. "What have you
found?"
"Dr. Vex en…I'm sure you remember him?" ;Tifa tossed the file on the glass table .
Sephiroth eyed it. "Yes…it&n bsp;does seem that we need to talk. Why& nbsp;don't you two lovely ladies have
a& nbsp;seat? Would you like some tea? It's ;going to be a long night."
:Again,&n bsp;imagine said line break inserted here:&nbs p;
(So…first of all, I'd l ike to apologize to my fan base for ;taking so damn long with this chapter.
There were a lot of problems that c ame up, mainly my computer crashing, me moving and not
being able to find m y backups, etc. Anyway, I tried to focus more on Larxene and Marluxia now,
since I know it was beginning to bother& nbsp;people. There's a little more Riku/Namine&nbs p;in here.
Hopefully the things I reveal ed are satisfactory, for now. But please,&nbs p;let me know what you
think. I wel come all criticism, though flames are a less effective form—so keep that&nbs p;in mind. If
you have questions please& nbsp;ask. I will answer them to the best of my ability. Thank you for still ;
reading, reviewing, etc. Love you all. Peace out, until next time.)
Sadistickunai s